


you matter to me

by GothMaureen



Series: star child of konoha, assertive dragon of suna [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Redo, Did did I mention everyone's queer?, Drabble Collection, Everyone is Queer, F/F, F/M, Growing Up, M/M, Queer Themes, Teaching, Team Building, Team as Family, Visitor from another Universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2020-04-12 09:57:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19129702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothMaureen/pseuds/GothMaureen
Summary: Irakusa Tatsuya, called 'Kokuyo' is the strange master of genjutsu, one of the finest in Sunagakure, a man out of place.But when he trains the Sand Siblings and takes them to Konoha, everything changes.





	1. sand children, too much black, fear, friends & cunning as a fox

**Author's Note:**

> OK.
> 
> There's a lot we need to go over before I get started. 
> 
> The character of Tatsuya is from another superhero universe I created with my best friend. I have in fact, permission, to use her characters in this story, but they're not going to show up for a while. 
> 
> The whole concept of this fic (and the greater universe it belongs to) is 'what if the Sand Siblings were taught (and essentially raised) by someone who saw them as actual people, who didn't come from the Naruto universe?'. I started writing this story about a year and a half ago, it's rough, and I'm doing my best to edit it as needed, but work with me. I have not written Naruto fic in YEARS, okay? 
> 
> And last but not least - THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH SUNA-NIN WITH NAMES I HAD TO MAKE SOME UP OKAY? OK.

one:  **_sand children_ **

“You will train them,” the Kazekage says, and Tatsuya has to keep his gaze still. “I trust you, Kokuyo.”

“Yes, Kage,” the black-clad jonin nods, before taking his leave.

Is he  _ crazy? _ Be  _ sensei _ for the Kazekage’s  _ children _ ?

They’re good kids, with natural aptitude, but  _ really _ ? After being stranded here, he’s going to take on something like this?

So that’s how Tatsuya finds himself standing in the middle of a training ground a few days later, his three charges waiting - Temari, the oldest, is waiting for orders, sandy brown wrap draped over her shoulders, her eyes flitting between her new teacher and her brothers; and her  _ brothers _ are both silent. There is palpable mistrust between all three of them - everyone in Suna fears Gaara, the youngest son, the monster within.

“You three are under my command now,” Tatsuya breaks the silence, and three pairs of eyes look up at him - there is fear, and unsureity, and more in those eyes. “You will train hard, and long, and do what I ask of you. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sensei,” three voices chorus, two shaking a little.

“You have nothing to fear from me,” he smiles softly. “And nothing to fear from each other, either,” Todd sneaks in, catching the glances of Temari & Kankuro to their brother. “You are here to learn, to grow, and you can only do that together.”

“Is that understood?”

* * *

two:  **_too much black_ **

“I still don’t understand how you wear so much black, Irakusa,” a voice says from behind where Tatsuya’s biting into his taiyaki.

Sitting down beside him, holding a paper-wrapped taiyaki of her own, Isobe Emiri has a wicked smirk on her face. “It just makes you more of an eyesore.”

“Jerk, “ Tatsuya elbows his fellow jonin the side, and the green-haired woman laughs before tearing into her own red bean filled pastry. “I’m just used to it, doesn’t feel like me otherwise.”

“It’s rubbing off on your charges, one of them at least,” Emiri nods to where the three genin are each going through drills nearby - Kankuro is running laps around the training field, and he’s dressed in stark black, a dark spot compared to the violet of Temari’s form as she does push-ups on one side of the field, and the bright fucking red of Gaara and his hair as he sits,  _ quietly _ beside his sister, meditating.

“That reminds me,” the jonin-sensei finishes off the last of his snack and turns to his friend. “At some point I want to see some specialized training into my kids, and I thought-”

“Which one?” 

“Kankuro,” Tatsuya looks his friend square in the eyes, waiting. “I think he might have some puppet-mastery in his future, and I don’t know anybody else better than you, Emiri-san.”

“I’m flattered,” the green-haired ninja laughs before standing up. “Just give me a place and a time, and I’ll be there.”

Maybe this won’t be that hard after all. 

* * *

three:  **_fear_ **

They’re all scared out of their minds; Temari & Kankuro of their brother, and Gaara, well...that one’s harder to pinpoint.

“You are a team,” Tatsuya tells them early one morning, before the sands and the winds pick up. “More than that, you are family. You have to learn to work together, if you’re going to progress further in your training.”

“Tatsuya _ - _ sensei,” Temari looks up at him through a bit of blonde hair falling into her face.

“I’m not finished,” Tatsuya holds up one black-gloved hand. “Fear is a powerful foil against us, but can also be an equally powerful tool for ourselves.” 

“Today, we face our fears.” The jonin says, carefully pulling from his shirt a long silver chain, dangling from it his ring. Unclasping the chain, he slips the black band onto his left pointer finger and Dark Matter coils around his arm. 

A few moments later, there are three spectral black figures standing in front of the siblings. “Each of these constructs will fight you, harder than you’ve fought until now.” Tatsuya steps back, and the figures stand before his students, waiting for their master’s command. 

“They also know your worst fears and will use them against you,” Tatsuya looks between his charges. “You all have the ability to defeat them, you just have to find that strength and  _ use it _ .” 

* * *

four:  **_friends_ **

“It’s a good thing you’re pretty,” Emiri is laughing into her drink, sprawled out on Todd’s floor. 

“Amen to that,” another voice says, and Tatsuya looks over at Akiyama Shiro, accomplished medical-nin, who’s leaning against Emiri’s back. 

Tatsuya shakes his head and takes another sip of his own beer before sitting down on the floor with his friends. “You are the  _ worst _ ,” he side-eyes them both. 

“You love us,” Shiro smirks, nudging Tatsuya with a foot. 

“Debatable,” the jonin-senshi replies and looks over at his best friends. Emiri, the  skilled ninjutsu kunoichi - her green hair is out of its usual high ponytail and she’s laughing, wild in its cadence, and Shiro, his black and white hair disheveled as the smirk across his lips. 

_ In a moment, they remind him of someone else:  someone he’s tried to forget, purple light and emotions run wild - _

“Earth to Tatsuya,” Shiro’s voice breaks Tatsuya’s thought pattern, and he looks over at the silver-and-black haired medical-nin. “Over here, pretty boy.” 

Tatsuya finds himself looking at the pair of them again: Emiri and Shiro back-to-back, laughing and trying to draw him closer. It’s exactly what the blackette’s been missing.

Which is exactly why Tatsuya slides across the floor to his friends, who draw their arms around him. The three of them laugh, and smile, and it’s the happiest Tatsuya’s been in a very long time. 

* * *

 

five:  **_cunning as a fox_ **

“It’s time you three had a new challenge.” Tatsuya gathers his trio together and looks at them: there is still tension between all of them, but slowly, they’re becoming more comfortable with each other. 

“This had better be good,” Temari quips, glower across her face. 

“Trust my judgement. I am, after all, as much a part of this team as each of you,” Tatsuya says, hands moving in a flash of hand seals. A moment later, as he slams his hand onto the sandy ground before the three, there’s two  _ pops _ and two of Todd’s fox summons are sitting in the sand. 

“Tatsuya-san!” Shinku brightens, immediately curling around Tatsuya’s feet as he stands. 

All three genin’s eyes open a little wider, as both Shinku and Hoshi chitter around Tatsuya. “Girls,” he draws the foxnin’s attention. “It’s good to see you too, but you’re here to meet some special someones: my genin.” 

“Ooh!” Hoshi’s eyes widen and she runs over to Kankuro, who looks at the fox and raises an eyebrow. 

“I hope one day soon we’ll all be able to work together in perfect harmony,” Tatsuya smiles as Shinku stands between Temari and Gaara, choosing the redhead to lay her attention upon. 

“You are as red as me!” The crimson-colored fox laughs, and it’s not long before Gaara’s self-imposed wall of Anger Superiority has fallen a little as Shinku runs around his feet laughing, a smile cracked on Gaara’s stony face. 

Temari steps toward her sensei, eyes on her brothers, both smiling and not paying attention to each other for the first time in months. “Tatsuya-sensei, thank you.” She nods her head at her teacher, eyes back to her brothers again. 

“It has been too long since I saw my brothers smile,” the blonde sighs. “I had feared I might never see it again.” 

Tatsuya smiles, looking between his charges for another few minutes, before raising his voice to get the attention of everyone. “Alright, time to get to work!” 

So that’s how they spend the rest of the day, switching the Sisters out with each of the trio in trails along the training courses. It’s long, watching Shinku & Hoshi outrun the siblings, giggling laughter as they playfully tease the sibling they’re with. But by the end of it, covered in sweat and sand and dust, Tatsuya knows he made the right choice.

_**to be continued...** _


	2. missions, take two, protection detail and questions & answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I debated not leaving in 'take two' - it has some outfit exposition that's vaguely cringe, but decided in the end to keep it, since there's some stuff in there that's going to be Important Later. 
> 
> Have fun!

six: **_missions_ **

“What?” Tatsuya frowns, looking down at the papers in front of him. “I’ve been preparing them for this mission for _weeks_!” 

“I’m sorry Irakusa-san, there is nothing I can do,” the terrified messenger stares up at Tatsuya. “I am only a messenger, and my orders come from the Kazekage himself.” 

“It’s alright, I know,” the black-haired male frowns. “I’m not upset at you. Go.” 

When he comes back to the trio, each pouring over a scroll (tactics for Kankuro, strategy for Temari, and defense for Gaara), Tatsuya’s anger is palpable. “Tatsuya-sensei, what’s wrong?” Kankuro lifts his head out of his scroll, a bit of the purple paint he’s begun wearing on his face smudged across the middle child’s nose. 

“The mission,” Temari looks up too, her astute natural senses kicking in. “It’s been called off.” 

“Reassigned,” Tatsuya corrects the blonde. “Resources are being adjusted, and moved, and missions are being diverted to Konoha. _Apparently_ Suna’s resources aren’t enough.” 

“That’s bullshit,” Temari spits out, blonde eyebrows furrowed in anger. “We are just as capable as any leaf-nin!” 

“I know,” Tatsuya frowns, keeping his composure. “There is nothing I can do, but find another for us to work toward, and continue our training as usual.” 

“It is alright,” Kankuro speaks up, eyes flitting to his brother before going back to his teacher. 

God, this is frustrating as hell. 

* * *

 

seven: **_take two_**

“Pack your gear,” Tatsuya gathers his charges together, each looking up at him. “We’re leaving in two hours.” 

“A mission?” Temari smiles when he nods, and she immediately runs off, grabbing each of her brothers by the hand. 

_That_ he wasn’t expecting. 

But Tatsuya smiles a little, knowing he’s getting to them, slowly but surely. Quickly flashing through the hand seals to teleport back to his apartment, Tatsuya moves from the living room into the bedroom. Digging under the bed, the black-haired male tosses the half-packed mission bag out onto the bed and shoves a few more things into it. 

Once that’s done, Tatsuya attacks the closet. His mission gear is simple but effective - black pants cut a little tighter than most of his fellow Suna-nin, with a black fishnet shirt worn sacrilegiously under a plain black fitted shirt, cut by Tatsuya himself. He’d slashed the sleeves off and cut off a good few inches off the hem, to show the fishnet underneath - still a punk boy at heart, even here. Completed with black ninja sandals and his standard beige flak jacket, Tatsuya slips the chain with his ring on it from his neck and slides the black band on his ring finger. 

It’s then that Tatsuya has to look in the mirror on the wall, and carefully tie his hitai-ate across his forehead, pulling a few strands of black hair forward so they hang across the silver metal. It’s a bittersweet reminder, of someone Tatsuya can’t forget, _won’t_ let himself forget. 

When he looks in the mirror, there’s something else Tatsuya does, closing his eyes before canceling the henge across parts of his body, so several of his tattoos slowly begin to move. It’s another reminder, the one that gave him his ninja nickname, Kokuyo -  “black night”, for the clouds tattooed around his wrists that sparkle with tiny stars. 

And of course, for the Dark Matter. 

When he takes one last look in the mirror, Tatsuya likes what he sees. “Take two.” 

* * *

 

eight: **_protection detail_ **

It’s a long, grueling journey escorting the ambassador from Iwagakure back to his home. It’s uneventful the first day and a half in, until Tatsuya notices the odd tracks in the sand. “Wait,” he holds up a gloved hand to his charges, and all three stop in place. 

Scooping up a handful of sand in one palm, Tatsuya frowns, eyes rising up to see forms coming down the dunes toward the party. “ _Ambush_ ,” the black-haired male hisses, and turns to his students. “Protect the ambassador,” he nods to Kankuro, who takes the shaking man by the arm and finds a place to hide within the dunes. 

“Temari, stay with your brother,” the blonde frowns but follows Tatsuya’s orders, right as the incoming assassins appear out of the haze. 

It’s a flash of dust and sand as Tatsuya snaps his fingers and four Dark Matter clones appear, each taking on the form of one of the party with practiced ease. “Well well well, the rumors are true,” one of the assassins hisses, face hidden by a sandy brown wrap. “ _Kokuyo_.”

“Save it,” Tatsuya growls from where he’s standing, hidden behind a rock formation in the sand. 

After that, it’s a blur. 

Tatsuya’s avoiding taijutsu moves left and right, Dark Matter coiling around his entire body and sent out in blasts that knock several of the assassins out cold. What he doesn’t expect is the ambassador to run screaming, and Kankuro bolt after him, a stark black figure in the sand. But then, when the assassins realize they’ve been fighting clones and two of them gang up on the kid, Tatsuya is spellbound for a moment as out of the sand, _Temari_ appears, holding her training fans in each hand, wind blasting back the would-be killers. 

Kankuro grabs the Iwagakure ambassador by the arm and slams the man down into the sand, standing over him. From behind his sister, Gaara’s eyes burn and his chakra bubbles as the sand around him leaps to his command and blasts the assassins back. 

“Some kids you got there,” the one Tatsuya’s fighting, the leader, snarls. “Such a shame-” his words are cut off as Tatsuya tightens his fist and the Dark Matter around the man’s ankles creeps up to his neck, tightening like a noose. 

And then, it’s over. 

* * *

 

nine: **_questions and answers_ **

On the way back home, Tatsuya is beside himself as _all three_ of his students pepper him with questions. “Sensei, how did you-” Each of them has specific questions about technique, about how he combined genjutsu with the power of his ring. It’s the first time in a long time that the trio isn’t simply staring at each other and speaking slowly in their own turn. 

“I’ll have time to answer all your questions later, I promise,” Tatsuya laughs. “After what happened on the way here, I am more concerned about returning home without any more fuss.”

Temari is the one who’s frown is the most like a scowl, her brothers both sighing and following their sensei’s orders. “My father told us you are not from Sunagakure, but came here from elsewhere. They must have fine ninja for him to choose you as our sensei. I see why now.”

At the blonde’s words, Tatsuya’s throat tightens, because even now, years later, the word ‘ninja’ brings to mind several things: bright vivid pink and shuriken presents wrapped in green paper, and then his mind wanders….

“Sensei?”

Kankuro’s voice breaks Tatsuya’s thoughts, and he looks down at the genin, whose eyebrows are furrowed. “One day, I’ll share with you more about my home. I promise you that.” 

_**to be continued...** _


	3. home, specialization, & one friend to another

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI I’M NOT DEAD. 
> 
> Life kind of got in the way for a while but I’m back now! Please enjoy more Tastuya and his sand children YES I SAID IT

ten:  **_home_ **

“Get your identification out guys,” Tatsuya tugs the second chain from around his neck, the one that his dog tags hang off of. “We check in with the chunin on gate duty, and then I drop off our report to the Kazekage.” 

All three follow, holding their silver tags in one hand, and Tatsuya explains what they already know; that all shinobi must report to the Kazekage, and since their mission was one of diplomacy it is of utmost importance. The pair of chunin at the gate, Haruka and Makoto, each give Tatsuya a sly smile as they tap a chakra’d finger to his tags, and then the kids. 

He’s used to this by now, the subtle ways in which all sand-nin act, that Tatsuya’s realized he’s adopted too. He never thought he could love a place so desperate and hot and full of wind and storm, but he does.

They’re home.

* * *

 

eleven:  **_specialization_ **

Several days after the success of the Stone Ambassador mission, Tatsuya gathers his students together after their morning exercises. “It’s time each of you begin specialized training. After what I saw in the Sand Wastes, each of you has different skills that can be honed. “

It’s then that Tatsuya leads his charges from their training field, to where Emiri is waiting with her own charges. “Kankuro, there is much you can learn from Emiri-san,” he nudges the black-clad boy toward Emiri. 

“I look forward to teaching you, Kankuro,” the green-haired woman smiles, introducing him to her students, genin of an age to Kankuro. “Your sensei has told me so much about you, and your skills. Let’s see what we can do.”

As they walk away, Tatsuya smiles. “Alright, Temari’s next,” he watches the blonde’s face light up a little as they reach their destination and Baki, member of the advisory council and accomplished ninjutsu master is waiting. “Temari-chan, it is an honor to teach you the ways of our people,” his face is stoic behind his head covering, but Tatsuya trusts his fellow jonin to teach the blonde what he can’t.

“Sensei, where are we going?” Gaara speaks for the first time today, his eyes stony. 

Tatsuya doesn’t speak, just leads the red-haired boy up to the hills over the village. “Gaara,” he speaks slowly. “I know you have been through so much in such a short time, but just because the world thinks you are a monster does not mean you have to be one.” 

“You could not understand.” 

Tatsuya sighs, and sits down in the sand, Gaara following suit. “No, I don’t. I don’t understand what you’ve suffered, nor could I.”

“But what I do know is that nothing good comes from shutting the world out, from hurting others just because you can. I am your teacher, yes, but I care about you, Gaara. You can always come to me, for anything.” 

Silence, for a few minutes, and then….

“I cannot sleep,” the red-haired boy, for the first time since Tatsuya’s known him, looks genuinely scared. “The-the voice in my head, he tells me to do such terrible things, and I-I can’t control it…”

Tatsuya reaches out with one hand, very slowly, to Gaara. “I am here for you, and I always will be, sensei or not.” 

* * *

twelve:  **_one friend to another_ **

“I can’t believe you did it,” Shiro is laugh-smiling, as Tatsuya’s kids run their morning laps through the training grounds. “Those three couldn’t even look at each other, and now look at them.”

Tatsuya looks from his friend to the kids, who are laughing with each other as they run. They still have a long way to go when it comes to  _ other people _ (Kankuro still can’t stand children, Temari’s mouth filter needs work, and Gaara still looks right through people when he talks to them), but to  _ each other _ they’ve come leaps and bounds in the months that Tatsuya has been their sensei. 

“They still have a lot to learn,” the black-haired male sighs. 

“Be proud of yourself, Tatsuya,” the medical-nin lightly smacks his friend in the shoulder. “You know those kids would have been fucked had the Kazekage given them to anybody else.” 

“I guess you’re right,” Tatsuya takes another look at the siblings, who look like different people from when he first took them on.

They look  _ happy _ .

_**to be continued...** _


	4. deserving of love, winds of change, a little time for my friends & the family you make

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The winds of change are rolling into Sunagakure...

thirteen:  **_deserving of love_ **

“Focus, Gaara,” Tatsuya is standing on top of the rock at their usual training spot above the village, watching with careful eyes as his charge gathers sand around his palms. “ _ You _ are in control, not the voice in your head.”

“I am in control,” Gaara repeats, voice wavering, and there’s a moment where the sand starts to coalesce into a solid form before it  _ blasts _ out in Tatsuya’s face. “I’m sorry sensei!” he’s shaking as Tatsuya forms a fan with his hands and blows the sand away. 

“It’s alright,” Tatsuya steps down from the stone and approaches the redhead slowly. “You are improving, I promise.” 

“Am I really worth all of this?” Gaara suddenly bursts out. 

Tatsuya lowers his hands and stays where he is. “You are.”

“Gaara, you are not what people make you to be.  _ You _ decide what kind of person you are. I know you aren’t a monster, you aren’t a weapon, you are  _ you _ . You choose your own path. Darkness doesn’t equal evilness. You are a jinchuriki, yes. You bear a burden none of us can begin to understand. Remember what I said about fear? You can either let it consume you or you can learn from it.” 

“Sometimes I feel like nobody...nobody could…” Gaara’s eyes are downcast, his fingers running through the sand, watching it dance between his hands in fleeting seconds of movement. 

“ _ Gaara,”  _ Tatsuya sighs. “Everyone deserves love, no matter what. “

* * *

fourteen:  **_winds of change_ **

Tatsuya stares down at the message in his hand and frowns - there’s something fishy going on and he doesn’t like it. “Training will continue after our meeting with the Kazekage,” he tells the three. Gaara’s face goes white, and his brother and sister blanch too, and Tatsuya catches them both grab their baby brother’s hand and squeeze. 

“I don’t know what it’s about, unfortunately,” Tatsuya frowns. “But the summons is immediate, we had better go now.” 

So they make their way to the Kazekage’s office, the trio behind Tatsuya as they enter, each of them silent, though Temari’s eagle eyes scan every inch of the room. 

“Kokuyo,” the Kage is sitting at his desk, barely looking up. “Punctual, as always.’

Tatsuya doesn’t reply, waiting instead for an answer to the damn summons. 

“And to the point,” Suna’s leader’s lip curls, completely ignoring his children. “I am assigning your team a very important and vital mission.”

“Important enough that you had to inform me in person?” Tatsuya raises an eyebrow. 

“Yes, Irakusa-san. And of the utmost secrecy too. You will tell no one of the details of this mission, unless informed by myself. Is that understood?”

“Of course, Kazekage.” Tatsuya crosses his arms over his chest. This is getting more and more fishy by the second. “What details might my team and I know now? I would like to be able to train my students appropriately.” 

The Kage’s lip curls up in a smirk, a smirk that Tatsuya most definitely does not like.

“In four months’ time, we are invading Konoha.”

* * *

fifteen:  **_a little time for my friends_ **

It takes all of ten minutes for Tatsuya to make his way to his apartment, but he’s stopped by a pair of figures in the doorway. Morita Nana has her arm wrapped around the shoulders of Kubo Hanzo, both of them smiling brightly. 

“Irakusa!” Nana’s voice is bright as Tatsuya walks toward his apartment. “We found your kids loitering outside. 

He raises an eyebrow. 

“Think they just needed somewhere else to go,” Hanzo explains, the burly brown-haired shinobi leaning into his shorter friend. “Looks like they wanted to talk to you. I let them in, if you don’t mind.” He holds up a silver key on a chain, tossing it to Tatsuya. 

The jonin-sensei catches it with ease, before throwing it  _ back _ to Hanzo. “It’s alright, keep it. Long story.” He makes way to the pair and his door.

“Don’t feel like you need to explain the world, Tatsuya,” Nana laughs. “It’s fine. If you need us, we’ll be down at the  _ Sandstorm _ .” 

“I might join you later,” Tatsuya sighs. “I need to take care of this first.”

* * *

sixteen:  **_the family you make_ **

Tatsuya is  _ furious. _

“There is something else behind this, I am sure of it,” the jonin is pacing back and forth in his dining room. 

All three siblings are sitting at the table on the far side of the room, scrolls open in front of them, and three pairs of eyes settle onto Tatsuya. “Sensei, short of rebellion, there is nothing you can do.” Temari frowns. “Our...father is a bastard but he is still Kazekage, and his word is the law.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Tatsuya frowns. 

“It will at least give us a good chance to train harder,” Kankuro speaks up before taking a drink of water from the glass in front of him. 

“There has to be a reason behind it, anyway.” Gaara says, and the wheels in his head are turning. 

“The daimyo's lack of support?” Temari suggests. “There have been less and less high-ranking missions, and Suna suffers from that.” 

“Yes, that’s right,” Tatsuya sits down at the head of the table  _ finally _ . “But it still feels like something else is going on, that your fucking father isn’t telling me.”

“That man has not been my father for a long time,” Gaara suddenly says, and his eyes turn to Tatsuya. “He does not deserve it.” 

Both Kankuro and Temari look at their brother with new eyes, and then to Tatsuya. “Family is not something I have understood for a very long time.” the redhead continues. “Until...until now..” he reaches out a hand to his brother and sister. “I am sorry for the pain I cause you both. I know I cannot make it go away, but I ask for your forgiveness and to know that I am doing my best.”

“That is all we can ask of you,” Tatsuya says, when both of the others are quiet.

This family is odd and a little broken, but it’s still worth fighting for.

_**to be continued...** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends at least it's only been a month since I last posted?
> 
> ALSO, I HAVE MANY FEELINGS ABOUT THE SAND SIBLINGS AND I WILL NOT APOLOGIZE EVER.


	5. drinks, practice practice practice, leveling up & frustration

seventeen:  **_drinks_ **

“Fuck the Kazekage,” Tastuya says after his second drink, surrounded by his friends in the back of the bar, a little genjutsu around them to avoid others listening in. “He’s an awful father to those kids, and he expects me to turn them into  _ weapons _ .”

“There there,” Nana pats him on the shoulder, taking a drink from her glass. 

“He has a point, Nana-san,” Shiro says (he and Emiri had joined them an hour ago). “Those kids almost went to  _ Baki _ , who knows what or who talked the council out of that.” 

“I don’t know what, and I don’t care.” Tastuya sighs. “They’re  _ kids _ , for crying out loud - Gaara is an insomniac and basically has a personality disorder from the damn One-Tail and his father not giving him human decency. Temari covers up her insecurities with sarcasm and she’s an enabler, while Kankuro has anger issues and they’re all still learning to act like  _ people _ around each other.”

“Breathe, Tastuya,” Hanzo laughs. “We all know you love those three.” 

He does, breathing in and looking around - surrounded by his friends, Tastuya still misses his home, but knowing he’s here, knowing what the siblings need, that all the shinobi around him would do anything for him….

That makes Sunagakure feel like home more than ever. 

* * *

eighteen:  **_practice, practice, practice_ **

“We’ll be working harder than ever,” Tastuya gathers the trio together on their usual training field after morning warm-ups. “Each of you  _ must _ pass the first round of the exams in Konoha.” 

Tastuya has his own motives too - the chunin exams are a good benchmark of skill, and even if this  _ is _ a mission, his kids are still worthy of participating. 

“Each of you will have extra time with me, for your individual ninjutsu skills, and should you display it, genjutsu as well,” the black-haired male watches the sly smiles on his students’ faces. “In addition, you’re each going to have a third block now - Kankuro, taijutsu with Nana in the mornings, Gaara, chakra control with Shiro, I’m switching up your time with me; and Temari, you’re with Hanzo for some extra tactical lessons in the evenings.” 

“I trust each of you to give this your all, not for some mission or the Kage’s will; but because there will be genin from all over the nations present at the exams and you will be representing Suna.” Tastuya looks at them and sees in their faces pride. “Because you are all worthy of this, and I know you can do it.” 

“Yes, Tastuya-sensei,” they chorus together. 

* * *

nineteen:  **_leveling up_ **

She’s ready.

It’s been a month into the heavier training schedule; after consulting with Baki, Tastuya presents Temari with her new fan. It’s  _ huge _ , built to her size, made of heavy iron and the blonde’s face lights up in a smirk when she sees it. “Sensei, you think I’m ready?”

“You need to be,” the black-haired male sighs. “I’ve been informed of more information about our...mission from the Kage, and each of you must be ready to fight like you haven’t fought before.”

“You still don’t agree with the invasion,” Temari slings the fan across her back and those keen eyes of her peer into Tastuya’s soul. 

“You know the answer to that, Temari-san,” he gives her a knowing look. 

“If it would make you feel better, sensei, I am in agreement with you,” the blonde fidgets with her hitai-ate around her neck. “Would it not be better to talk with the other nations? Maybe they don’t even know what’s happening here, they aren’t at fault for this.”

“We don’t know  _ anything _ , because nobody in this damn place talks to each other,” Tastuya growls. 

“Anyway, that’s beside the point,” he continues when Temari raises an eyebrow at his comment. “You’re ready for this, and I believe in you. Let’s begin.”

With a quick flurry of hand seals, Sora appears in front of Tastuya, his sandy-brown body blending in with the ground around the pair of humans perfectly. Sending the sand fox onward, Tastuya has Temari spend the next several hours practicing her wind ninjutsu using the larger weapon; the stealthy little fox as her intended target.

Once their allotted time is over, Tastuya sends the blonde to her tactics lesson and sits on a rock, thinking still about this damn mission. 

Something still feels wrong about it. 

* * *

twenty:  **_frustration_ **

“You have got to be KIDDING ME!” Tastuya slams his fist down onto the table in frustration. “This is a  _ terrible idea _ , it goes against everything I’ve trained him in.”

“I suggest you calm yourself, Kokuyo.” The Kazekage’s face is stone-silent,  _ too _ peaceful for the jonin’s liking. “This is the way I have decided that we shall progress with this invasion, and I would advise you to control your temper.”

Tastuya is  _ beyond pissed _ . He’s fuming, using every ounce of his control to not just punch the Kage’s face in. 

“My son is temperamental, and spiteful. He knows his place in this world, and both of you will do as I say. Gaara knows what he is, and  _ why _ he is that way. He will heel to my command, as his Kage and his father. You will ensure that he does so.”

Tastuya storms out of the office. 

_**to be continued...** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to get Serious....


End file.
